Hong Kong high-speed rail ridership tops 16 million in H1

(ECNS) -- The High Speed Rail (Hong Kong Section) recorded more than 16 million passenger trips in the first half of 2026, up over 10% from a year earlier and the highest for the period since service began in September 2018, MTR Corporation said Thursday.

Average daily ridership exceeded 92,000, while nearly 150,000 passenger trips were recorded on April 4, setting a single-day record.

Hong Kong West Kowloon Station now offers direct services to 113 stations in the Chinese mainland. Since July 1, services between West Kowloon and Futian in Shenzhen have increased to at least 112 trains a day.

To meet summer travel demand, 13 additional pairs of trains will operate between the two stations over five weekends from July 25 to Aug. 23.

(By Intern Yang Hongran, Zhang Dongfang)